Posted on November 14, 2012

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Executive Director

Founded in 1988, the mission of the Princeton Center for Leadership Training (PCLT) is to develop, disseminate, and promote peer leadership, advisory, and other evidence-based K-12 solutions that enable and inspire schools to more fully engage students in learning, better connect students to school, motivate and equip students to make decisions responsibly, and accelerate academic achievement. PCLT is driven by the vision that one day, all children will thrive in schools that graduate them prepared for the rigors of college and lives filled with meaningful work, active citizenship, and personal fulfillment.

Nationally, PCLT is one of a very few organizations with a focus on social and emotional learning that has a proven track record, spanning over two decades, of significant academic impacts on students, educators, and schools. PCLT’s work touches tens of thousands of students, educators, and parents in hundreds of schools across the country. Our clients include schools and school districts in urban, suburban, and rural communities ranging from high-poverty to more affluent. We have worked in Baltimore, MD; Camden, Newark, Princeton, Trenton, NJ; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Thomasville, Franklinton, and Trenton, NC; and Washington, D.C.

Our solutions enable and inspire students to become more engaged learners; develop positive social, emotional, and health behaviors; navigate pivotal transitions; and address the overwhelming stresses of youth. PCLT’s solutions take root within schools and make a lasting, sustainable impact that continues long after our active involvement. We accomplish this through a thoughtful and collaborative planning, team building, and training process with school leadership and other stakeholders; intensive train-the-trainer strategy; user-friendly, rigorous, and relevant curricula; and on-site technical assistance and fidelity monitoring.

PCLT offers a wide variety of student leadership, teacher leadership, family leadership, and other customized solutions. Examples of PCLT solutions include:

Peer Group Connection (PGC): an evidence-based and school-based program that supports and eases students’ successful transition from middle to high school by tapping into the power of older students to create a nurturing environment for incoming high school students.

Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP): an evidence-based and school-based program that utilizes peer-to-peer education to increase responsible decision-making among students around issues of sexual health. The program was originally developed in 1995 through a collaboration of the Princeton Center for Leadership Training, HiTOPS, Inc., and the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. Student & Family Advisory (SFA): a research-based school-wide practice that provides all students in middle and high school with the support they need to feel attached to school, to succeed in school, and to graduate ready for the rigors of college and high quality careers. Through SFA, students and their parents/caregivers come to know and be known well by at least one adult in the school who stays connected with them the entire time they are enrolled in the school.

Achievement Mentoring (AM): a school-based prevention and intervention program for grades four through eleven that has been proven to reduce problem behaviors, improve academics, and reduce drug and alcohol use.

Campaign Connect (CC): an advocacy movement designed to encourage schools to become safer and more supportive, engaging, and inspiring, and provide them with the tools and resources to do so.

PCLT also creates customized solutions in response to the specific needs of schools. The organization has designed custom solutions for over 150 public and private schools throughout the United States.

PCLT’s work has been rigorously evaluated by research organizations, universities, and independent evaluators. Results consistently demonstrate that we improve students’ academic, social, and emotional skills, resulting in: significantly lower dropout rates; improved grades; fewer discipline referrals; and avoidance of high-risk behaviors. A four-year longitudinal, randomized-control study conducted by Rutgers University and funded by the United States Department of Health and Human Services found that PCLT improves the graduation rates of its student participants by ten percentage points and cuts by half the number of male students who would otherwise dropout.

PCLT is a growing, fast-paced, collegial, and team-oriented environment where each staff member plays a critical role in changing life trajectories for students and transforming school cultures. PCLT has a significant presence in New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina, and is actively expanding in Maryland and Delaware. PCLT began operating in North Carolina in 2006 and now seeks a dynamic and talented individual to serve as the Executive Director for PCLT’s North Carolina office.

For more information about PCLT, visit: www.princetonleadership.org.

Position Description

Title: Executive Director, North Carolina

General Description:

Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, Product Management, and Evaluation, the full-time Executive Director of North Carolina will provide strategic vision for growth throughout North Carolina, secure funds to support the growth vision, and will ensure the highest quality of programming is being provided throughout the state. The Executive Director will be a key member of both the North Carolina team and the National development team.

Position Responsibilities: The Executive Director will:

Development

• Develop, in collaboration with PCLT’s growth strategy team, growth goals for North Carolina and actively work to achieve those goals
• Actively engage schools and districts to initiate and sustain PCLT programs
• Research, identify, and secure funding to support PCLT’s North Carolina-based efforts
• Cultivate and maintain strong, trusting, respectful relationships with a wide range of individuals and organizations (foundations, non-profit organizations, corporations, government agencies, universities)
• Conduct the full range of activities required to prepare, submit, and manage grant proposals from inception to application in accordance with proposal guidelines and deadlines
• Manage and steward grants once they are received by the organization including preparing and submitting reports to funders on current grant progress and implementation, as required
• Maintain regular communication with funders and other key project partners
• Attend and facilitate relevant internal and external meetings, including those outside of North Carolina, as appropriate
• Attend and present at networking events, fund development events, and professional conferences, including those outside of North Carolina, as needed

Program Management

• Cultivate and maintain relationships with project partners
• Ensure project/program fidelity and quality for all of North Carolina-based projects
• Work in collaboration with PCLT’s national office to coordinate and conduct trainings to prepare schools to implement PCLT’s solutions
• Oversee and supervise the technical assistance provided to program sites and ensure that clients receive timely feedback on any implementation concerns that are observed
• Obtain regular feedback from project partners about the success and challenges associated with implementing PCLT’s programming
• Ensure evaluation and continuous improvement data is collected and synthesized from implementation sites and is used to inform service delivery improvements
• Be informed about all of North Carolina projects and grants, including contractual commitments and project goals and ensure the completion of project goals and objectives
• Oversee and manage program budgets

Supervision

• Supervise North Carolina team members, including conducting performance assessments
• Ensure team members receive appropriate training to enable them to effectively carry out their responsibilities and create ongoing professional development opportunities
• Coordinate and facilitate internal meetings, as necessary

Location: This position will be based at PCLT’s North Carolina office located in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Frequent travel within North Carolina will be necessary. Some travel beyond North Carolina will be necessary.

Schedule and Salary: The anticipated starting date for this position is February 1, 2012. The salary is competitive and based on experience.

Candidate Qualifications

The ideal candidate will demonstrate exceptional abilities to plan, prioritize, organize, balance and complete multiple complex projects, often with competing deadlines. He/she will be adept at creating excitement and energy around PCLT’s mission, solutions, and offerings and will demonstrate the ability to encourage others’ enthusiasm and support for the organization. He/she will ensure that PCLT’s North Carolina-based programming is offered at exceptional levels of quality. He/she will also demonstrate the following characteristics:

• Excellent listening, writing, and speaking skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to build relationships internally and externally and to develop and manage effective teams
• Highly effective time-management, goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
• Ability to gather, analyze, synthesize, and communicate information from various sources
• Strong public speaking and group facilitation skills
• "Roll-up-your-sleeves" entrepreneurial, startup attitude
• Ability to obtain and utilize client data to drive decisions
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively
• Flexibility, resourcefulness, and willingness to work evenings and weekends when required for successful and timely completion of projects
• Ability to use discretion and judgment in handling confidential and sensitive information
• Knowledge of and an enthusiastic commitment to the organization’s mission, solutions and offerings
• Knowledgeable in issues related to K-12 schools and education reform
• Experience working in or with K-12 schools
• Management and supervisory experience required
• Bachelor’s degree required
• Program implementation experience preferred
• Fund development experience preferred
• Knowledgeable in technology
• Remarkable references

Application Instructions

By Friday, December 7, 2012, interested applicants are requested to email (please include the title of the position in the subject line) a cover letter and CV or résumé to mreagan@princetonleadership.org. If possible, please email documents in a pdf format.

Princeton Center for Leadership Training is an equal opportunity employer committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in its work and staff.